Demountable building



1m28, 195s R. F. JOHNSON 2,820,990

DEMOUNTABLE BUILDING Filed May 1l, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. ROBERT F. JOHNSON ATTORNEY S Jan. 28,- 1958 R. F. JOHNSON DEMOUNTABLE BUILDING 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 11, 1955 K INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS DEMOUNTABLE BUEDING Robert F. Johnson, Portland, Greg. Application May 11, 1955, Serial No. 507,650

4 Claims. (Cl. 20-2) The present invention relates to demountable buildings, and particularly to such buildings which may be collapsed for packaging for shipment.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a demountable building, constructed from pre-cut material, that can be erected with a minimum of skill.

Another object of the yinvention is to provide a demountable building wherein the building panels are selfsustaining with no frame being required.

A still further object of the invention is to'provide a demountable building of the class described that can be erected and demounted in a minimum amount of time and with a minimum amount of equipment.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent in the following specification when read in the light of the attached drawings, in which:

Figure l is a plan View of the erected building, with parts broken away.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the demountable building with parts broken away.

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view of the upper portion of the building, illustrating the panel attachment and air ventilator application, taken on line 3 3 of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view illustrating the attachment of the side walls to the base, taken on line 4 4 of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 5 is a transverse sectional view of the device, taken on line 5 5 of Figure 2, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view, taken on line 6 6 of Figure 3, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 7 is a fragmentary vertical section taken on line 7 7 of Figure 3, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 8 is a side elevation of the device, which illustrates how the walls of the building are connected to the base of the building before the top of the building is brought together.

Figure 9 is a fragmentary sectional view of the base of the building, illustrating how the same is connected together, taken on line 9 9 of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 10 is a vertical sectional view of the door of the building, taken on line 10-10 of Figure 2, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 1l is a transverse sectional view of the door of the building, taken on the line Il l of Figure 2, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 12 is a fragmentary transverse sectional view of the air ventilator, taken on line 12-12 of Figure 3, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 13 is a perspective View of one of the connecting clamps for connecting the panels of the building together.

Figure 14 is an exploded perspective view of one of tate tent C the connecting units for holding the tops of the panels together.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, wherein like referencenumerals indicate like parts throughout the several figures, the reference numeral 20 indicates, Vgenerally, the oor or foundation of the instant demountable building. The oor 20 is formed from sheet material such as plywood or the like, formed into sections 21 which may be either solid or hollow, as desired. The door 20 is formed of sections 21 to permit the oor 20 to be collapsed to facilitate packing for shipment. In assembling the sections 21, splines 22 are extended between the sections 21 for maintaining them in alignment. It should be noted that the iioor 20 may also be formed fromconcrete when it is desired to give the building a semi-permanent location.

The walls of the building are formed from sheet material such as the panels 23, which are cut as illustrated in Figure 8, and secured to the floor 20, as illustrated in Figure 4, by the securing elements 24. I'he panels 23 are further supported by battens 25 which bridge the joints of the iloor Zi, giving greater strength thereto. The panels 23 are additionally secured to the edge of the oor 20 by a band 26. The band 26 is split, and may be tightened by any suitable means, such as bolts 2'7 extending between the ends of the band26.

After the panels 23 are secured together and to the iioor 20 of the building, they will appear as illustrated in Figure'S. Positioned intermediate the ends of the panels 23, along the Vvertical edges thereof, are connecting members23, which are generally H-shaped and have avdivider 23 Vrunning' longitudinally thereof, providing pockets `30 on either side of the divider 29. The pockets 30 embrace the edge of the panels 23, as particularly illustrated in Figure 5, and may be secured to the panels 23 by securing elements 31 or, if desired, by friction alone. ln constructing the building, any number of connectors 28 may be interposed between the panels 23 as are required by the circumstances.

The units illustrated in Figure 14, which are shown in an exploded View, are used to connect the tops of the panels 23 together. These units consist of an outer clamping plate 32, an inner clamping plate 33, and a threaded eye-bolt 34. The inner clamping plate 33 is provided with an opening 35 and the outer clamping plate 32 is provided with a threaded opening 35, the eye-bolt 34 being adapted to pass through the inner plate 33 and be threaded into the outer plate 32. Referring to Figure 6, it should be noted that the plates 32 and 33 are applied to one edge of one of the panels 23 and held thereto by bolts 37 or any other suitable fastening means.

The opposite edges 33 of the plates 32 and 33 are flared to receive the oppositely disposed panel 23 when the panels 23 are assembled as described below.

A cable 39 is threaded through the eyes 40 of the eyebolts 34 and is then tightened so as to bring the tops 41 of the panels 23 together, as illustrated in Figures 3 and 6. The edges of the panels 23 enter between the plates 32 and 33 and then the edges of the panels 23 are drawn tightly together, with the cable 39 secured in its tightened position by cable clamp 42. The clamp 42 consists of plates 43 and 44, which are clamped against the ends 45 and 46 of the cable 39 by the bolts 47.

As the cable 39 is tightened, the edges of the panels 23 are entered into the connecting members 28 and also between the plates 32 and 33 of the upper unit, as described above. The eye-bolts 34 are provided with locking nuts 48 which clamp the plates 32 and 33 together against the edges of the panels 23 after they have been brought together in their final position as above described, a sealing tape 49 being applied over the joints of the panels 23, as illustrated in Figures l, 2, 4, 5 and 6.

spacing the ventilator 50 above the building top.

Window and door openings may be closed by a reinforced eXible sheet panel 53. This panel is attached to the upper edge 54 yof the door opening by any suitable means such as a batten 55 with cross rods 56 embedded within the panel 53 to assist in holding the same in position. The panel 53 maybe rolled up to the broken line position 57. t

From the above description and disclosure, it can be readily understood that this building can be shipped in packages and erected without a framework, the side panels 23 coming together in such a manner as to comp'letely support the building.

Having thus described a preferred embodiment of the invention, it should be understood that numerous modications and structural adaptations may be resorted t Without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A demountable building comprising a flat base, a plurality of panels with each of said panels having a bottom edge, a pair of arcuately inwardly and upwardly tapering side edges on each of said panels, an upper edge on each of said panels parallel to and substantially shorter than said bottom edge, means securing the bottom edge of each of said panels to the peripheral edge of said base with the side edge of adjacent panels abutting throughout their height, said panels each curving inwardly from its bottom edge `to its upper edge, a plurality of edge aligning members engaging adjacent edges of adjacent panels in vertically spaced relation, means cooperating with each of the uppermost of said aligning members for securing the upper edges of said panels together, and means overlying the adjacent edges of said panels for sealing the joint between adjacent panels.

2. A device as claimed in .claim 1 wherein said aligning members each comprises a pair 0f parallel angularly olset spaced apart plates, said plates having a pair of adjacent terminal side edges outwardly ared, and means connecting said plates.

3. A device as claimed in claim 2 wherein 'the uppermost of said members are each provided with an eye formed on said means connecting said plates, and said means cooperating with said members securing the upper edges of said panels together comprises a exible cable ythreaded through said eyes and having its terminal ends detachably secured together.

4. A device as claimed in claim l wherein all of said panels are clamped around a base rim by a band having means for tightening said band to clamp the bottoms of the panels against said base rim.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

